A pre-university student, who was missing since February 4 from a coffee estate in Siddapura police station limits in Kodagu, was allegedly raped and killed.

The police arrested Ranjith, 21, and Sandeep 30, both labourers and from West Bengal, for the crime. “We arrested them on Wednesday and have secured a day’s police custody,” Superintendent of Police, Kodagu, Suman Pennekar told The Hindu.

The victim, a minor was reported missing from the estate since the evening of February 4, apparently while returning home in the estate after college. However, her bag and footwear were found in the bushes near the coffee estate a week later.

The police, who had booked a case, began interrogating the labourers in the region and stumbled upon information that a labourer in an adjacent coffee estate, Ranjith, had quarrelled with the girl.

When the police picked up Ranjith and interrogated him, he is believed to have confessed to having kidnapped the girl along with Sandeep and raped her to take revenge. Later, they strangled her to ensure that she did not disclose the incident.

The duo hid the body amidst boulders in a hilly area near the estate. The decomposed body was recovered by the police.

The accused possessed Aadhaar cards with addresses in West Bengal, an official said.